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American football player (1937–2015)

Arthur Louis Powell (February 25, 1937 – April 6, 2015) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). He played college football for the San Jose State Spartans.

Powell attended and played high school football at San Diego High School and played college football at San Jose State University. His brother, Charlie Powell, was also a professional football player.

Powell played for the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian football league in 1957 and 1958. Powell played in the American Football League (AFL) for the New York Titans, Oakland Raiders, and the Buffalo Bills. He also played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings. Possessing the size, speed and ability to make remarkable plays all over the field, Powell was one of the American Football League's first stars. With the New York Titans, Powell led the AFL in receiving touchdowns in 1960 and in receiving yards in 1962. He then led the league in both categories in 1963 after moving to the Raiders. Powell began his American professional career after he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and put together an impressive rookie season in 1959, finishing second in kickoff returns with a 27 yard average while serving as a reserve defensive back. Included in those returns was a 95 yard touchdown run against the New York Giants on October 4 that jolted the defending conference champions in a 49 21 defeat. Powell refused to play in a 1960 preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Norfolk, Va., upon learning that the Eagles' black players would not be given rooms at the team's hotel. After being released, Powell joined the AFL's Titans in 1960, and was soon establishing his receiving credentials after a position change by Titans' head coach Sammy Baugh, scoring four touchdowns in his first contest. During the league's first three seasons, Powell teamed with Don Maynard to form the first wide receiver tandem ever to gain over 1,000 receiving yards each in receptions. In fact, the duo accomplished that feat in 1960, the first year of the AFL's existence. They repeated the feat in 1962. When the Titans faced the Houston Oilers in a 1961 preseason game in Greenville, S. C., and housed their black players at a run down hotel in a black neighborhood, Powell again staged a one man boycott. He finished ranked third all time in yards gained in the AFL with 8,015, behind Don Maynard (10,289) and Lance Alworth (8,976). Four decades after his playing career ended, Powell remains the Raiders fourth all time leading receiver, scoring 50 touchdowns during his four seasons with Oakland. With five seasons of over 1,000 receiving yards, he earned American Football League All Star accolades for four straight years and was among a select group that was chosen on the All Time All AFL Team. The latter balloting took place in 1970 following the merger between the AFL and NFL, and was selected by Hall of Fame selectors and wire services. Despite catching only 479 career passes, Powell pulled in 81 for touchdowns and he still ranks 26th all time in career touchdown receptions, and his career touchdown rate of 16.9% (that is, the percentage of his catches that went for touchdowns) is amongst the best in history. In 2019, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Powell to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2019. In August 2023, he was selected as a finalist for the Class of 2024 of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If he receives 80% approval from the committee, he would receive induction. On February 8, 2024, it was announced that Powell did not make it into the Hall of Fame.

On April 6, 2015, Powell died at the age of 78, less than a year after the death of his older brother, Charlie.